Trump Temporarily Withdraws E-Cigarette Ban, Possibly Over Election Concerns

U.S. President Donald Trump has temporarily withdrawn the flavored e-cigarette ban he had previously said would be introduced. The Washington Post reported that, as he has done many times before, Trump changed course—this time on a plan to address a major public health issue—because he was concerned that vape shop owners and their customers could hurt his re-election prospects.

Previous reports

Data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 17th showed that, as of the 15th, a total of 1,479 confirmed and probable lung injury cases related to e-cigarette use had been reported across 49 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with at least 33 deaths.

CDC data also showed that among 849 patients who knew the substances contained in the e-liquid they had used, about 78% had used e-liquid containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a cannabis-related substance.

According to the latest 2019 U.S. National Youth Tobacco Survey released this November, the prevalence of e-cigarette use among American teenagers is now at a "concerning" level: among about 19,000 middle and high school students surveyed, about 27.5% of high school students and 10.5% of middle school students reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. Extrapolated nationwide, this would mean that 4.1 million high school students and 1.2 million middle school students in the United States used e-cigarettes in 2019. In terms of frequency, an estimated 1.6 million students used e-cigarettes regularly, and 970,000 used them daily. The survey also showed that, to attract young people, many businesses offered e-cigarette products in a variety of flavors such as fruit, chocolate, and cream.

Given that e-cigarette use among U.S. teenagers has reached an "epidemic level" in recent years, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced in September that the Food and Drug Administration, which is under its authority, would introduce regulations banning the sale of non-tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products in order to curb the trend of youth vaping. On November 8, President Trump also said he planned to raise the minimum age for purchasing e-cigarettes from 18 to 21 to curb the spread of e-cigarette use among young people in the United States.